Two million people in England unaware their properties are at risk of flooding

More than two million people in England are unaware their properties are at risk of flooding, as the UK braces for a wet and stormy start to the winter, according to the Environment Agency.

Experts say the next three months are more likely than usual to be wet and windy – due to a combination of large-scale weather patterns and the “subtle” impact of a supercharged El Niño – increasing the risk of flooding.

However, the EA warned on Wednesday that people in a third of the six million properties most at risk of flooding are unaware of the threat they face.

Caroline Douglass, the director for flood and coastal risk management at the Environment Agency, said: “We know with the 6m properties at risk [in England] … we know that one-third of people who are at risk don’t think they are at risk.”

She urged people to check on the government website whether their properties were at risk, and to take measures to prepare.

“We want the public to make sure they know what their risk is, so check on gov.uk. We need them to sign up for flood warnings … and if they are at risk, to have a flood plan so they know what they need to do.”

Flooding caused havoc across the UK last year and the Met Office said that, after a summer of droughts, extreme heat and wildfires, the UK was facing a wet and stormy start to winter.

Will Lang, the chief meteorologist with the Met Office, said its three-month outlook indicated there was an increased likelihood that October, November and December would be wet and windy, adding there were early indications of drier, colder and calmer conditions later in the winter.

“There is an increasing likelihood of it being wet overall, windier than normal and milder than usual as well,” said Lang.

He said El Niño – which is bringing devastation to other parts of the world – increased the likelihood of wetter and windier conditions in the UK but was only one of several factors influencing the UK’s weather. “This is just a subtle shift in the odds of it being wetter and windier,” he said. But he added that would lead to “a heightened potential for flooding”.

The Met Office said that although flooding was likely in the months ahead, drought conditions would remain in large parts of the UK until reservoirs returned to their normal water levels, adding that would require above-average rainfall over the winter.